


Trails in the Sky

by catcheraesthetic



Category: The Legends of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
Genre: Confessions, F/M, Going on an Adventure, Joshua and Estelle are idiots in love, My take on how the second chapter of the series would start, Old Writing, Separations, cliff hanger, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 20:47:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11388096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catcheraesthetic/pseuds/catcheraesthetic
Summary: My take on the final scene between Joshua and Estelle in Trails in the Sky: First Chapter.  I wrote this before playing the second chapter.





	Trails in the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> I write this for a RP a couple years back, but I like it and I think it could be a standalone one-shot.

Three months ago, Estelle had been on cloud nine; she had just helped save the Kingdom from a crazy military coup.  She had done so with the help of her friends and family.  One person, in particular, had been with her from the very beginning and that was Joshua Bright, her adoptive brother.  She had always felt a connection to him, even though that first night that she met him, she had yelled at him and slapped him for being rude to her father.  Maybe if she had been a little gentler with him, things might have turned out differently.

Maybe if she had realized her true feelings earlier it would have turned out differently...

Absentmindedly, she brought her fingers to her lips.  The very lips that Joshua had kissed on the night that he left her.  The night that changed everything. 

* * *

Three months previously...

It was during the Queen's birthday celebration.  Estelle and Joshua had just gotten back from exploring the royal city.  She found it nice walking the streets without any real purpose, without having to look for clues or hiding what she was.  She proudly flaunted her bracer badge--Nial had just released an article in the Liberl times about the bracers who had saved the Queen and the rest of the Kingdom from a Military Coup.  She and Joshua had not been mentioned by name; and she knew most people who stopped to stare at her badge probably thought she was just a junior member who had not done much to help save the kingdom, and that they did not realize how it was her and Joshua who had done most of the work!  She felt proud of herself even if no one but those involved knew just what she had done.

She was also a little jittery because she had finally decided to tell Joshua how she felt about him (she had failed earlier in the day and had run off to fetch ice cream to make up for it).  It had taken most of their adventure together before she realized the truth of her feelings.  Everyone had seemed to notice how she felt about him before she had.  She had decided after their little walk, when they returned to the castle, that she would tell him how she felt. 

When they returned to the castle, they parted ways, momentarily.  Estelle was sharing a room with Scherazard and Joshua has in a room with their father, Cassius.  She fidgeted with her hair, not certain what to do with it.  She tugged at the clothing she wore; impractical to impress a man with but practical for fighting.  She wore a tunic with pants tucked into some boots.  The outfit gave her mobility, but it was far from pretty.  She had nothing else to wear, though.  Her confusingly girly thoughts were distracted by the sound of a harmonica playing.  Joshua was playing her favorite song, and so she found her feet carrying her away from the bedroom and outside.  Seated on a bench in the courtyard, sat Joshua.  His eyes were closed as he played the soulful tune.  When she reached them, though she had been walking quietly as possible, he opened his eyes.

"You were playing that song the night we set out to find father," the disappearance of her father's airliner was what had started the adventure that would lead to saving the Queen.  She smiled, shyly.  "It is my favorite but it sounds sad."

"It is a sad song, but there's some hope to it," Joshua replied, watching her. 

Estelle looked right back at him for a few seconds before turning her gaze to her feet.  It was unusual for her to feel tongue-tied around him.  It was also unusual for her not to be able to read him.  Plenty of people always said that he was mysterious but Estelle felt as if she knew him better than he knew himself.  Yet tonight... there was something off about him, and she could not place her fingers on it. 

"Joshua, I need to tell you something."  She blurted out, in true Estelle fashion.

Joshua held up his hand, "Can I go first?  I think I am ready to tell you about my life before your father saved me." 

"A-are you sure?" He had always kept his past private from her, and she had learned not to pry.  She knew that Joshua would tell her about it when the time was right.  Though she desperately wanted to shout her own secret to him, she bit back the urge and waited for him to speak.

"Yes, I found out even more about it tonight.  More about myself..." There was sadness in his voice, she thought.

When Joshua told his story, she said nothing.  She sat down next to him on the bench and listened.  Watching his face intently.  Her heart breaking with each word he shared.  When he finished they sat in silence for a few moments.  Estelle trying to find the words to say that could possibly comfort him.

"You must hate me now,"  Joshua said quietly.

"Hate you?" Estelle repeated, frowning.  She then shook her head and reached to grab his hand. 

"I could never hate you.  That was in your past... you were a child!  Yo-..."

"I did some of that recently.  I was the reason we had so many complications on this journey.  I--..."

"You had no idea it was happening, you were being controlled and your memories wiped,"  Estelle said firmly.

"That makes me dangerous," he said, darkly.

"I don't care," she argued, stubbornly.  "You and I can fix this and figure it out together. "

"Together?"  Joshua asked a strange tone to his voice.  Estelle nodded, and then took a deep breath.

"Joshua, your past is your past.  You are a good person now.  And I..."  She hesitated before plowing on.  "and I love you."

She had not noticed that she was looking anywhere but at Joshua as she confessed that.  She finally now turned to look at him, and noticed a strange and burning expression in his eyes.  The next thing she knew was that he was kissing her.  Her eyes fluttered closed as she kissed him back, instinct of some sort kicking in.  Though, she wondered foggily, if lips were supposed to taste like that.   
She opened her eyes to look at Joshua, her head feeling cloudy all of a sudden.  She brought her hands up to her lips.

"I've always loved you, Estelle."  He said quietly before everything went black.

* * *

  
Estelle blinked those memories back both joyful and painful.  She was standing in front of a mirror in a public restroom of an Inn.  She and her group were staying at it for free.  She had taken on a job for the mayor of the village and the reward was a free night at the Inn.  The rest of her group was down in the pub, and she knew she had to join them.  Kloe was probably already worried about her.  Agate might be on the verge of killing Olivier. 

Sighing, she pushed the door open and headed to the bar.

* * *

It had been three months since Joshua had started his journey, and he was no nearer to finding the answer than he had been all those months before.  He longed to play his harmonica, something that had always seemed to sooth his turbulent soul, but he had left it behind with Estelle.  The thought of Estelle brought a pang to his chest and he was grateful that he was alone on guard duty this night.  Josette always seemed to sense when he was thinking of Estelle, and that always seemed to put her in a sour mood.

He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking back to the Queen's birthday celebration.

* * *

  
He and Estelle were exploring the Royal City.  He felt happier than he had in years.  They had just saved the Queen and the Kingdom.  They finally had some free time to explore without having to investigate.  The city looked a lot different when you were not looking desperately for clues.   He and Estelle had taken a break and were seated on a bench when she suddenly got hyper and shouted about needing ice cream.  She had been on the verge of telling him something; he could sense it.

The moment she was gone he sensed something else.  He felt almost dizzy and when he looked up, he gazed into the eyes of Professor Alba.  The professor flashed him a kindly smile, but Joshua suddenly saw through it.

"You," he said quietly.  
"Ah, are you remembering now, Joshua?" The man asked an evil glint in his eyes.   
"I-..." Then it all came crashing back. Moments that had vanished from Joshua's life that he had never realized were missing.  He suddenly saw himself telling things to Professor Alba in strange places, rattling off the plans and movements of Cassius Bright and the bracers.  Then later on of his own movements. 

He felt sick to his stomach. "I betrayed them... you made me..."

The Professor gave a tut before leaning in to whisper, "Let all the memories come back."

More came crashing back.  Joshua closed his eyes to fight them, and when he opened them, the Professor was gone.  He suddenly remembered why he had come to live with Cassius and Estelle.  He felt sick to his stomach.  By the time, Estelle returned he had adopted his normal facial expressions, and they returned to exploring the city.  When they got back to the castle, they went to their separate rooms.   

It was there that Joshua began making his preparations.  He packed lightly, knowing he would only need to fend for himself.  He mixed up a concoction, a just in case concoction, and then he went outside to the courtyard to play his harmonica.  He had to sooth himself to do the hardest thing in his life.  To say goodbye to Estelle.

Though his eyes were closed, and though she walked quietly, he knew when Estelle approached him and he opened his eyes. 

"You were playing that song the night we set out to find father," He always played this song before setting out on a difficult task.  Finding Cassius had seemed at the time as if it would be the hardest thing ever.  He noticed a shy smile on Estelle's face as she continued. "It is my favorite but it sounds sad."

"It is a sad song, but there's some hope to it,"  Joshua replied, watching her.   Trying to get a read on her.  It seemed like there was something on her mind.  Estelle knew him better than most people did.   Sometimes, he got the distinct impression, that she even knew him better than he knew himself.  Could she possibly know about his past?  Had Cassius told her?

"Joshua, I need to tell you something." The way she blurted it out was completely like her and he could not help the smile that tugged at his lips.  He pushed it away though.

Joshua held up his hand, "Can I go first?  I think I am ready to tell you about my life before your father saved me." 

"A-are you sure?"   
"Yes, I found out even more about it tonight.  More about myself..." There was indeed sadness in his voice.  He was about to confess to the woman he loved what a monster he was.  About how he had betrayed her in the end, even if he had not meant to. 

He waited for her to sit before he began his story.  "When I was a child something happened to me.  What happened... I still do not recall.  Something bad.  I was left emotionless, aimless, alone.  One day a man came to my family and offered to help me out.  They agreed, and he took me.  He then began to train me in various fighting methods, and techniques.  He trained me to kill and not care.  No one would suspect a child, he said.  I assassinated many people, and one day, he told me to kill a bracer.  It was Cassius Bright.  I failed.  That man sent men to kill me for my mistake, but Cassius, he saved me.  He brought me home and took me in.  He and his daughter mended me. Eventually, they became a family to me."  He found it easier to tell his story as if it were a story, as if he was not talking to one of the main characters in it right this second. "Eventually, I began to forget what a monster I was.   I tricked myself into thinking I was normal, a human.  Turns out, I was part of a bigger plan.  Moments in my life with my new family were stolen from me.  Moments where I would tell secrets, the movements of Cassius Bright and later on... us.  I spied on us without knowing it.  Feeding out movements and plans to the very people behind the coup."  He finished his story and then added quietly, "You must hate me now."  
"Hate you?" Estelle repeated, frowning.  She then shook her head and reached to grab his hand.  He did not flinch back.  There was comfort in her hand being in his, and he knew he would miss that comfort on his journey.

"I could never hate you.  That was in your past... you were a child!  Yo-..."

"I did some of that recently.  I was the reason we had so many complications on this journey.  I--..."

"You had no idea it was happening, you were being controlled and your memories wiped."  Estelle said firmly.

"That makes me dangerous," he said, darkly.  What if he was still under their control?  He felt like it was gone but... what if it was a trick?  He had to get away and set things right without getting Estelle involved.

"I don't care," she argued, stubbornly. "You and I can fix this and figure it out together. "

"Together?"  Joshua asked a strange tone to his voice.  His heart racing as a strange kind of hope began to fill his chest.  He had to push that hope down. He could not give into temptation and bring her along.

"Joshua, your past is your past.  You are a good person now.  And I... and I love you."

He had noticed she was looking anywhere but at him.  He had a feeling he knew what her confession would be.  Part of him was overjoyed and the other part devastated.  Knowing she was not watching he hastily applied some powder to his lips.  He was unaware of the burning look in his eyes but when he saw hers on his, he moved in to kiss her.  Something he had wanted to do for a very long time.  Part of him was surprised she did not smack him.  He kissed her and noticed that she was kissing him back.  HE felt happy and guilty.  He pulled back from her, noticing her eyes were already beginning to droop. 

"I've always loved you, Estelle."   He said, hoping she heard before she lost consciousness.  He stood up and left the harmonica in her hand before walking away.  His pack had been hidden behind a tree; he grabbed it and left the castle.

  


* * *

Joshua opened his eyes when he heard a twig snapping in the distance.  He and his group were camping outside for the night.  Zane had built a fire that had long ago burned down.  Zane slept outside by the fire, and he was certain Josette was in one of the tents.  Lorence must be in the other.  Unless, the man was creeping around out in the woods.  He seemed to do that sometimes.

Joshua reached down to grab his weapon, and strained his ears to listen.


End file.
